Encounter: Kazuhide vs Shingi Act I
"History will always repeat itself..." That is the quote that is drilled into our heads, and unlike most..it's true. Shingi on the inside of his psyche looked up at Kurama. Shingi stood exactly six feet talk, and weighted around 157 pounds. The man had long black hair, and it was braided. The braid was so long that it wrapped in a circle on the ground. Around his neck sat a red jewel, and it symbolized something for his future. The man was frail, extremely frail skinny to say the least. His appearance would lead others to believe that a simple blow would knock him down. A quick chill slid down his neck stopping right at his back. He looked at the other side of his wrist. Then back at Kurama who'd been resting on its front arms. "This isn't like you Shingi." Kurama states, closing its eyes and actually lying its head down. Shingi finally spoke, "Kurama you can't sense it? Not even a little? It's like a sensation of something we might want to get mixed up in." Shingi exited his psyche and he sat in the center of Konoha's training field standing to his two feet he looked at his surrounds. "That feeling you get when..." Just as the sun set over the Leaf the presence of half a dozen chakra signatures within the all but vanished, as if they were all put on the brink of death in an instant. This left a lone signature, far from impressive, within the confines of the facility, which calmly made its way through the building. This presence, attributed to a relatively tall man in a black jacket, possessing equally dark eyes and hair, strolled through the archives, stepping the collapsed bodies of leaf ninja, before stopping before a particular bookcase. Glancing at the tomes before his eyes for a moment, he promptly grabs one of the titles and begins flipping through the pages. "So it was here," Kazuhide murmurs quietly, seemingly finding what he had been searching for. Placing his hand over one of the pages a small puff of smoke is emitted as a scroll is released from the seal it had been placed. Carefully replacing the book to its place on the shelf, the intruder stores his acquisition in his jacket before making his way towards the exit. "It's about time I got out of this stifling village," he thinks to himself, passing by the unconscious archivists and guards once again. Shingi stood for a few seconds, and upon so Shingi was brought into his psyche yet again. "Shingi, did you-" Kurama began to speak before being cut off. He laid his head back down as he began to listen to the words that were about to come out of Shingi's mouth. A small frown was formed on Kurama's face. With the likeliness that he was annoyed. "Yeah, scents were wiped out near instantly...then all of a sudden it became calm and nothing more happened." Shingi took off exiting the training grounds then reaching the gates to the entrance of Konoha. "It was all from that archive..." Shingi stated as he continued to make his way. Kurama then spoke, "You know something Shingi, there's a distinction about someone's scent that's around here." Shingi stood at the entrance of the archive. Just as Shingi approached, the door of the archive opened and out stepped a grey-haired man wearing thick rimmed glasses. This man, visually recognizable as one the resident archivists, displays a look of bewilderment at the approaching shinobi. "What brings someone here so late in the evening?" the man questions as he pulls out a pack of cigarettes from his flack jacket, a small amount of blood running down his hand. Inspecting Shingi for a moment, the shinobi turned looked over the village and lit a cigarette. Glancing back toward Shingi, the light revealing a thin crack in the man's glasses, the man patiently waits for a response. A quick glance of the man was enough for Shingi to get a full synopsis of the man. The smoke from the cigarette filled the air around them, and tried his best to hide his annoyance of it. "What brings me?" Shingi's low voice sang as his words played through the air, he hated being questioned. "Visiting the archive is all. I don't get much free time, so I decided to use my break on this place today." Shingi began to move up towards the entrance of the place, and he'd face a horror of going directly through the smoke. "Oh...I see," the man said with a look of surprise, "Sorry, we don't get many stray visitors this late...feel free to come in." Taking a final drag of his cigarette, the man flicks the butt over the banister before opening the door to the archive. Inside a pair guards glance over before nodding as the archivist makes his way into the building. Back towards the rear of the room a couple more archivists can be seen taking notes as they look over a the contents of a bookshelf, while another another pair could be heard returning books just outside of view. Much like bespectacled archivist that led Shingi into the building, everyone looked oddly disheveled. "So...did you just come by to look around?" the archivist questioned Shingi, taking a seat at one of the several desks, "Or did you come here to find something in particular?" "Hm...particular you say? Oh yes, I did." Shingi's face was a straight as ever at this point. He consistently looked over his shoulder. Then thought to himself, "This has to be a genjutsu of sorts." Shingi look back up at the man. "While on my way here I smelt something a little fishy. Then all of a sudden it all vanished...Not sure if you get my drift." Shingi states, reassuring himself things were far from normal. "Hmm...you did?" the archivist responds whilst furrowing his brow, "I'm afraid it's been uneventful since we began our shift at noon. In fact, it has just been the six of us here all day...you're our first visitor." Looking around cautiously Shingi looked up at the archivist. "Very well then, I guess I shall be on my way." He states turning around heading towards the exit of the place. "Shingi you aren't going to just let this go by right?" Again Shingi hated being questioned, and even Kurama was aware of this. "Kurama even you know, what hides in the dark will come to the light." "Well, we all appreciate you taking the time to stop by," the archivist explains, standing back up and giving Shingi a nod of approval. After a quick wave, and gathering up a small stack of papers, he turns away and makes his way from the door. Meanwhile the other six individuals in the room continue about their business as usual. "So Shingi...what's next?" Shingi glared at Kurama for a while he couldn't beat to keep quiet any longer. "That two questions in less that fifteen minutes, Kurama. It seems you're trying me." Shingi exited his psyche as he reached the entrance of the archive. "I guess, I'll destroy this entire building, hm?" This was the moment Shingi waited for. I mean in the first place he was discontinued from his training. It was quiet outside, but in a instance it would change. With a simple tap up against his arm, the his chakra exerted, pushing out against anything that was in his sight. A dust storm would surely appear, and it was only the start of what he was planning. "What an troublesome individual. He must be a skilled sensory type, but I suppose it was too obvious that something was going on," Kazuhide thinks to himself from his relatively concealed position, "By exerting that much chakra he's going to going to inevitably draw other leaf-nin here, and my position will be easily revealed. Though, simply making a run for it now also serves his purposes as well. Either way, a display like that forces my hand." Knowing that he would have to act quickly, as any delay would only complicate things, the intruder finally makes his move. With a considerable display of force, the door to the archive is blown off by a fiery explosion. Following up immediately what appears to be the grey-hair archivist leaps through the flames and rushes over the railing toward the village. Inside the archive itself the collapsed bodies of the six remaining individuals lay sprawled across the floor, their chakra all equally disrupted. Meanwhile the fleeing individual leaps from building to building, trying to distance himself from Shingi. Wild Goose Chase "Didn't I tell you Kurama? What hides in the dark shall come to the light..." Shingi's sensing ability was on par to that of an Uzumaki no doubt. With ease he could tell the man was on the move, and from the pattern of movement he was jumping. Shingi himself leaped high into the air and was able to spot his target. Landing atop a building, Shingi followed behind the man. Rat, Rabbit, Dog, were the seals Shingi preformed perfectly. Taking a deep breath he shot out a blast of compressed air. "Shingi sometimes..." The wind technique finds its target with incredible precision, cutting deep into into the back of the fleeing man. Additionally, being hurled from the force of the strike, the individual is thrust from the top of the rooftops to the road below. Laying motionless in the street civilians begin to gather around fallen shinobi. The concerned voices grow louder as the crowd steadily grows. Furthermore, the consistent chakra associated with the man's presences suddenly shifts to a weak one possessing a completely different signature. Shingi leaped high into the air, sand formed into a nimbus, and he jumped atop of it. Lowering it down just to view the man's body Shingi stood for a second. Using more sand to push people aside he made sure to keep his eye on the foe saying things like "Step aside, you don't know exactly what he's capable of." Using more sand which formed atop of Kazuhide, Shingi slowly allowed it to lower atop of him. In the next moment, the sand would be now covering him like a coffin of sorts. Realizing the presence of the sand too late, the man struggles in an attempt to free himself from the makeshift casket. His efforts are in vain, as he's unable to free himself from Shingi's grasp. Gasping for breath, he manages to let for a muffled yell from beneath the sand. Meanwhile, the crowd begins to retreat from the scene. Unfortunately, this was not in response to Shingi's well placed caution, but as a result of the apparent observation of a leaf shinobi enveloping and suffocated one of his allies in the middle of the street. Shingi stopped, hearing the yells sound like screeches, he stood. As the people ran to different corridors of the village, he noted how they all looked back at Shingi only. When he was younger, he felt the hatred of others, so he could tell it was directed towards him and no one else. By now Shingi was sure his opponent was done for, and undid the sand, only to see the vivid image of a leaf shinobi. "What the hell is this?" The archivist, freed from the confines of the sand, laid eerily quiet upon the street. A cool wind blew from through the village, the only sound in a now all but vacated corridor. The bruised and beaten archivist's pulse was faint, but still intact despite his wounds. If he received medical attention immediately, then he would have a chance of pulling through. Meanwhile, back in the archive itself, only five of the six collapsed bodies remained on the floor of the room. Having taken the chance to escape up the cliff side bearing the and into the forest just outside the village, Kazuhide leaped from tree to tree before suddenly stopping. Looking back in the direction of Konoha, the man's deactivated as he let out a sigh. "It seems the on the decoy was broken," he thought to himself, "Though...I didn't expect my pursuer to be so aggressive. A skilled sensor along with a wind and sand user, I'll keep that in mind." Continuing ahead, in the hope that he would soon be out of range of his opponent's ability to perceive him, Kazuhide planned to finish this mission before it became any more complicated. "If I hadn't have matched my chakra signature to the individuals in the archive such a maneuver wouldn't have been so easy to pull off. The last thing I need is to draw the attention of a troublesome leaf-nin," he silently confirmed, steadily making his way toward the nation's border. Inside his psyche, Kurama thumped Shingi's head. "It was a genjutsu Einstein." Kurama states lying back down once again. Shingi pointed at the beast discretely. "You mean to tell me you knew this the whole time?!" Shingi grabbed his head for a second. "I though it'd be fun to watch you handle the situation. I can tell you're Naruto's student...You might be smarter, but you're just as off track as he is." Existing his psyche Shingi placed his hand over his eye. "Yeah, I see it now..." Shingi's third eye formed. "Too bad I have this village and it's borders to my advantage." All over the village and it's land, small particles of sand rose to the sky. "I can sense you through my sand.." While on his nimbus of sand, underneath the shirt on his torso, a jet-like appendages formed, and Shingi instantly took off towards the entrance of the village. "Shingi, he's a wielder of the Sharingan...be careful." Shingi chuckled. "I didn't think you cared so much to give me such warnings." Kurama growled at Shingi's response. "How about you face the direction of the monuments." Kurama had to laugh at himself, as Shingi turned around near instantly, adding more thrust going faster than before. Bursting from the foliage, Kazuhide makes his way out of the forest and across a moonlit field. Noticing the presence of his pursuer's chakra faintly emanating from his surroundings, and the sensation of passing through hovering particles of sand, he focuses his attention in the direction from which he came. "Contact sensing setup in advance and expending chakra to move at that speed...he's persistent at the very least," the dōjutsu wielder thinks to himself with a sigh. "At this rate he'll catch up before I can make it out the country, and his jurisdiction. Though...I have a feeling that he's not the type to be interested in heeding such a stipulation." Slowing his pace, Kazuhide appears to be patiently waiting for the arrival of Shingi. Within moments arriving at the place of where he saw a dragging Kazuhide he slowed himself down. Without a single word, his jet appendages changed into ones that resembled a cannon then fired a blast of chakra. During the time of the blast Shingi threw a number of kunai throughout the area making sure to note each location of the kunai. Turning to face the incoming attack, Kazuhide appears to watch on passively as the explosion envelopes his position with a thunderous crash. As the cloud of debris clears from his opponent's attack, Kazuhide stands unfazed in an unscathed area on the ground surrounded by a shallow scorched crater on all sides. Holding a black sword in his right hand that was emitting steam in a similar manner as the surroundings, suggesting that it was used to deflect Shingi's assault through some unknown means, the dark clothed swordsman casually glances around the area. "A concentrated blast of chakra enhanced with ..." Kazuhide begins calmly, refocusing his attention on his hovering opponent, "So you possess . Not to mention...never mind. I suppose it isn't of any concern." Without moving in to counterattack, or even complete his thoughts aloud, Kazuhide merely observes his opponent. Rumblin' , Tumblin' ! Shingi's cannon appendages grew out more, his arm extended out as well. He sighed, "Speak now, or forever hold your peace." Shingi states, reaching to his very own ninja tool pouch and drawing a kunai. His face filled with his slithering smile that could creep out the young children. Shingi did indeed mold himself to be nearly a splitting image of Orochimaru with nearly no perks. "I'll pass," Kazuhide responds calmly, pointing his blade towards the opponent before him. His enemy was the type to chase him here at a moments notice without understanding the entirety of the situation, discussing things now would only unnecessarily complicate the mission. Taking note of Shingi's continued transformations, and the fact that he had drawn a weapon, the Uchiha shifts his footing slightly in in the dry soil beneath his feat. His gaze focused firmly upon the hovering shinobi, the air around Kazuhide seems to shift slightly in an unnatural manner. "Dissolve away from lines view sight.. His genjutsu isn't flawed that's for sure." Shingi thought as he allowing his sand nimbus to form in front of him like a wall. Catching note as Kazuhide planted his feet in the dirty, Shingi simply moved his hand, and the dirty around his feet grasped ahold of him, clinging to him firmly. Slow the sand would travel up his leg then would soon engulf his entire body. And more sand surrounding the area just hovering in the sky. Shingi threw the kunai to the ground directly underneath himself. "He's he trying to block direct eye contact?" Kazuhide thinks to himself as his opponent forms a barricade of sand, "Perhaps he's aware that my illusion from before was ocular in nature." Sweeping the blade in his hand before himself, just in front of his own feet, the sand that was creeping up his legs collapses causing its grip to fade just long enough for Kazuhide to dart off towards his own right. As he swiftly repositions himself the sand in the air that he passes by drops to the ground, Shingi's active control over it seemingly being revoked by merely being within proximity of Kazuhide. Forming a pair of black shuriken in his free hand, the swordsman hurls the projectiles towards his opponent's unguarded left flank. It was obviously harder to detect someone he couldn't see, but he would allow it to short him of his abilities. "I lost my grip..." Shingi's hand that would be out gripping Kazuhide would be occupied before it could react to protect him from any harm, while not even being able to sense what was going on to his left. As the projectiles grew closer, from the ground near the side that was being attacked sand instantly form driving upward to cover his side. This sand was much more powerful than his own, and Shingi knew where it was from. Within his psyche a new essence appeared next to Kurama. "Your welcome." The unknown entities voice echoes. Shingi smirking looked up at the entity. "Shouldn't I be thankful for the Seiju... Isn't that right Shukaku?" "A second chakra signature blending with the first," Kazuhide thinks, as the additional barricade of sand interferes with his attack, "I suppose that confirms that he's a jinchūriki...and that the beast seems adamant sustaining the life of its host." Raising his hand in the seal of confirmation the sand surrounding the two shuriken begins to crumble, just like the manner that the sand grasping Kazuhide's legs collapsed. Taking advantage of the weakened shield the swordsman detonates one of the projectiles with a force that should be able to overcome the unstable sand. Oddly enough, the explosion only possessed Kazuhide's signature in a limited quantity and was instead composed primarily of Shukaku's chakra. Following up during the detonation of the first shuriken, the second projectile shatters into countless sharp pieces of shrapnel that launch in all directions. As the first explosion occurred, Shingi jumped from his nimbus of sand in the opposing direction of the explosion. This allowed him to sustain minimal damage possible but still feel it's effects. Before he could look up, he found himself surrounded by a number of nearly uncountable shuriken. Throwing the kunai that was in his hand with great force a set distance away, he gave a five second interval, then teleported to it. He wasn't sure the motives of the attack so reaching into his ninja tool pouch with his free hand he pulled out a scroll. "He's practically running my sand useless...." Unraveling the scroll as quick as he drew it the area was filled with a large white cloud of smoke. "His signature disappeared for a moment as he jumped," Kazuhide thought to himself as he tracks Shingi's presence, "So, he's a flying thunder god. I suppose that shouldn't be too surprising considering he's indeed a leaf ninja." Walking in the direction of the jinchūriki's new location, he stops after sensing a sudden pulse of chakra. Taking note of the white cloud of smoke in the distance, he decides to play it safe and keep his distance for time being. Forming an nearly instant set of seals in his free hand, such that they would be hardly discernible to the unaided eye, an intense level of chakra concentrates upon his fingertips. "Now...I wonder how he'll respond this time," Kazuhide ponders to himself, observing his opponent's chakra and movements as he launches his attack. Directing the aforementioned hand in the direction of his enemy, Kazuhide fires a compressed fiery projectile at an impressive rate toward his opponent's position. Upon getting within range of his opponent's perceived location, Kazuhide detonates the technique with a force comparable to several . As Kazuhide's attack hurled its way towards Shingi, who at the time had been engulfed in a cloud of smoke, a great explosion filled the area. It was a horrific sight, and if one were caught the chances of survival were as slim as Miley Cirrus. Despite being aware of the situation at hand, Shingi made no attempt to even budge. However, as the smoke cleared, Shingi stood perfectly unharmed. In front of him was none other than Bat, and his had its activated. "Usually Bat could've blocked the technique on his own, but it was much more powerful than usual. Therefore, I had to put my own chakra into it, transforming the thin sheet into a thick wall." Shingi's thoughts were filled with how he was forced to counter the technique. Directing his sensory capabilities at Kazuhide, Shingi gave a light smirk. Pulling his hand upward, his left hand's fingers began to dance. "Secret Red Move a Needled Hell!" From the many compartments of Bat's arms, he let loose a barrage of in various different location, with most aiming for Kazuhide. "Puppetry as well...you're full of surprises," Kazuhide murmurs at a level that would likely be inaudible at the distance between the two combatants, "In that case, allow me to borrow a tactic of yours." Holding his sword to his side a bright chakra erupted from his blade, illuminating the surroundings briefly before the shine mostly faded. Against a wide ranging and swift assault dodging would just increase the chances of getting hit. Factoring in the traditional use of poison together with puppetry, the margin for error encouraged the swordsman to respond a maneuver of less risk. Rotating his blade before himself with at an immense pace, the chakra imbued blade generated a temporary barrier composed of Shingi and his bijū's chakra. The senbon, unable to penetrate the fortification, were deflected away from Kazuhide into the surrounding vicinity. "''Compared to his initial assault when he rushed in, he's switched to a much more cautious position,"Kazuhide thinks to himself after noting sudden deviation in his opponent's tactics. "Unfortunately for you, the scenario demands that you remains on the offensive...otherwise I could just leave," Kazuhide explains calmly, tapping his foot on the ground before taking a step back with a smirk. Pulling his right hand back, Shingi was able to make bat come closer to himself. Swinging it around himself, and allowing it to rest on his shoulder. Moving his pinky finger, bat's eyes flipped. "Shingi smiled, looking over at Kazuhide. "Leave you say? Why would you do that? Our fun hasn't even started yet. I'm not going to allow you to up and leave. Entertainment hasn't gotten here, we are only at the appetizers." "If that's the case, then you'll really need to step things up," Kazuhide began to respond in a critical manner, a tone of arrogance noticeable on his voice, "...otherwise this will be your last fight." Without significant warning several black chains equipped with bladed tips burst from beneath the ground around Shingi, seeking to pierce through the puppeteer's chest and extremities before binding him. Elsewhere, thin chains emerged in the position of Shingi's scattered kunai, which Kazuhide had sensed and noted earlier when his opponent had teleported, and attempted bind the projectiles in question. Should Shingi warp to any of the marked kunai, Kazuhide would immediately detonate the chains in the vicinity. An adapt sensory ninja of Shingi's capabilities would be able to sense everything as well. As the chain's arose, Shingi would be able to anticipate and come up with a counter attack in just that small window. "Seems like he's taken things up to an entirely new level." With bat clinging firmly to him, and as the chains drew closer, Shingi would suddenly appear as if he submerged into the ground. Nowhere within sight. "Altering his attack patterns again...hopefully he has something in mind," Kazuhide thinks to himself as his Shingi disappears from view. Meanwhile, due to the lack of intervention, Shingi's scattered kunai are securely bound by the swordsman's chains. While it was completely possible to patiently wait for the scenario to unfold, Kazuhide had already warned his opponent what the dynamics of the situation. Audibly sighing, the swordsman glances off in the direction he was heading prior to the interruption by this puppeteer jinchuuriki. Shrugging, he begins making his way towards his original destination, dragging his blade against the ground as he walks. Category:Role-Play